More than 9,000 high tech space industry jobs could be created in Cornwall in the next decade, new plans to make the county world class high tech hub have revealed.

At least 1,000 direct space technology, highly paid, jobs could be created around Cornwall Newquay Airport's Aerohub and Goonhilly Earth Station on the Lizard peninsula by 2025.

That number is expected to double by 2030, but bosses at the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) believe a further 8,000 jobs could follow as new companies and data processing tech businesses are set up in the county to tap into the new technology.

Read More

Cornwall is expected to find out before the end of the current financial year whether it has been selected to host one of Britain's first spaceports.

What the spaceport could look like in Cornwall. The LEP believes it could create up to 9,000 new jobs over the next 15 years

If successful, horizontal rocket launches could take place from Newquay, which has one of the longest runways in the country, to see small size satellites put into orbit.

Newquay is among five UK sites vying to become the first spaceport in Europe as the Government aims to meet the growing interest in space tourism.

Together, the Cornwall Airport Newquay and Goonhilly Earth Station sites are said to offer an unrivalled combination of horizontal launch, monitoring and tracking facilities.

The space sector in Cornwall is thriving and there are great hopes that Cornwall will be chosen to host the UK's first spaceport

The LEP said Cornwall had the brains, skills, superfast broadband and the perfect work-life balance environment to play a leading role in the global space economy.

Tim Bagshaw, head of operations at the LEP, said: "Space has a huge impact on our lives, from communication and entertainment, to navigation and climate science. It will help tackle some of the biggest challenges facing mankind in decades to come, and its applications are growing fast.

"There is a tremendous opportunity to make Cornwall synonymous with the global space economy, whether that’s harnessing space data for the creation of new businesses, or launching hardware and people into orbit.

"We want Cornwall to be a space industry showcase, accelerating the economy through innovation and education, and equipping people with the skills they need to be part of a global success story for the UK."

Read More

The LEP has published a Space Action Plan outlining how well placed the Duchy is to lead the space sector in Britain.

Mr Bagshaw said that by harnessing existing assets like Cornwall Airport Newquay, Goonhilly Earth Station, digital connectivity and higher education expertise, the space sector could be worth more than £1 billion by 2030, which is more than 10% of the current economy.

Cornwall's spaceport could be used to launch satellites into orbit and to carry fee-paying passengers on sub-orbital flights. The LEP believes the space sector could create up to 9,000 new jobs by 2030 (Image: MDG)

It comes as the UK’s space sector has been growing at a rate of more than 8% a year for the last decade, four times as fast at the rest of the economy.

By 2030, the global space economy is projected to be worth £400 billion annually, and the UK has set a target of securing 10% of this activity through its own Space Growth Action Plan.

The Space Action Plan has been drawn up by the LEP in partnership with Goonhilly Earth Station, the South West Satellite Applications Centre of Excellence, Spaceport Cornwall, Invest in Cornwall and Cornwall Development Company.

A Space Science Hub: this will be a space research, education and training hub focused on space science and innovation. It will address the need for specialist infrastructure, resources and services to support Cornwall’s space ambitions, and build on the success of the existing South West Centre of Excellence for Satellite Applications.

High-tech business cluster at Goonhilly Earth Station: building on Goonhilly’s international satellite communications and data centre services to become a centre of space-focused high-tech businesses, supporting 400 jobs. Goonhilly will also be the world’s first commercial deep-space communications station, capable of tracking future missions to the Moon and Mars, thanks to a recently announced investment of £8.4 million by the LEP to upgrade one of its antennas on site.

Spaceport Cornwall: a proposal to create a UK spaceport at Cornwall Airport Newquay to offer accessible, safe and low-cost horizontal launch facilities for satellite launch operations and human spaceflight from 2020, creating an estimated 480 new jobs and £25 million a year for the local economy. The outcome of a funding bid to the UK Space Agency is expected to be known by the end of March.

Read More

Creative space applications development: Cornwall aims to be the location of choice for growing commercial ventures, scientific research and early stage technologies applying satellite data. Space already supports many of Cornwall and the UK’s traditional industries such as agriculture, tourism and mining, and newer sectors such as digital, renewable energies and e-health, bringing economic value and improving quality of life.

The space factory of the future: Over the next decade, Cornwall has the potential to be the place where creative, innovative, advanced, and clean manufacturing of the 21st century can find a home. This will include small satellite design, build, test and launch – in and from Cornwall.

Space Mission Operations: The aim is to offer a capability for end-to-end space mission operations, based at Goonhilly but using a wide range of assets to service all UK spaceports, and missions from low Earth orbit to the Moon and beyond.